towing & gear selection

I use 5th gear in my Disco towing our camper without any dramas in 230,000ks.

Baz.

There are two differing opinions on this.

Some say town in the direct 1 to 1 gear, eg in most 5 speed boxes this is 4th.

In the 6 speed Navarra I think 5th is direct, although I have seen the gearbox specs of the new Kia Sorrento and it has no direct drive gear.

Basically this means that the drive is going straight through the box without any "overdrive"

So, I usually tow in 4th in my 5 speed Triton, but if I am on a freeway and get up around the 90-95kph I drop it into top.

I have done fuel economy tests in top and 4th and there's only a bees whisker difference.

Friend of mine finds his Navarra goes best using 5th whilst towing his 5th wheeler.

Gidday

My Ford Ranger has specific towing instructions in the owner's handbook. I'd have a look at the Nissan one and see what that says.

Cheers

I Always tow in wth in my 5sp auto Cruiser HAve done for 50,000k with no trouble.

Exhaust temp is 75 deg cooler than in 5th and fuel usage is normal

Go here and read this thread about it

My replys and several other worthwhile to read


http://forum.candm.com.au/showthread.php?t=3900

Should answer your questions I would think

This question has come up many times and with different vehicles. My experience with this is, with the older Toyota 5 speed boxes it was considered suicide to tow in fifth gear,I owned two and had gearbox failure with both. The Nissan was a different matter and seldom had problems, also owned two Patrols and one Navara D22, a much better and stronger box. With the late model vehicles this problem I think has just about been sorted out. However IMO I think it comes down to a matter of common sense, as I tow to fit the road conditions, eg, on flat roads when the going is easy or with a good tail wind I tow in fifth. If the terrain changes to hills or more than gentle undulations, or I am copping a decent head wind I drop down to fourth.I have been doing this for years now with no problems at all.

Of course you can use sixth. But depending on whether its a diesel or petrol you will get a different response. Certainly won't hurt the car. But why run a diesel any higher anyway. Get up around the red limit and thats where you can start to damage it. But why!! Its a diesel.

Its a matter of finding the best torque range for your motor, transmission and wheels setup. And stay in that range and that torque. Its the same whether you are towing or not.

Looks like you have found the top of the range already. We never run the motor over 3000rpm. Not because it may hurt the motor but thats where we found that if you go over it you get less "bank for your buck" from the extra revs. We either change up a gear if not in top or slow down because we are going too fast if already in top gear. It even gets down to 1500 at times on an extreemly gentle accelerator and atthe top of a hill. Just "let" it run over and speed up going down the other side. Of course don't screw around with holding people up and annoying them. But experiment and find your range.

I like the way she just "goes" up the really steep rough hills in low 2nd and at 1500 revs. The 4.2 TD is a top combo. As I say "point and go".

Phil

Dave,

I have towed 2.5 tonne with my manual Patrol in 5th for 5 years. So far no issues. Just drop down to 4th or even 3rd on inclines.

My VW Touareg now looks after the heavy towing duties. 3.5 tonne in 6th gear in sport mode kicks in from 80kph. The 7 metre horse trailer is just about hitched up all the time and we travel up to 500 kms like this. VW Manual suggests using sport mode for towing greater 2.5 tonne, and let auto do it all. Its gots a kick ar-e oil cooler.

If manufacturer has a rating, the car should be able to do it in all gears I would suggest.

If it strains, maybe drop back a cog or two.

Brett....